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March 2018 Williamsburg Rent Report

Welcome to the March 2018 Williamsburg Rent Report. Williamsburg rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Williamsburg rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.

March 2018 Williamsburg Rent Report

Welcome to the March 2018 Williamsburg Rent Report. Williamsburg rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Williamsburg rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.

Williamsburg rents declined over the past month

Williamsburg rents have declined 0.9% over the past month, and have decreased moderately by 0.7% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in Williamsburg stand at $990 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,180 for a two-bedroom. Williamsburg's year-over-year rent growth lags the state average of 1.4%, as well as the national average of 2.3%.

Rents rising across cities in Virginia

While rent decreases have been occurring in the city of Williamsburg over the past year, cities in the rest of the state are seeing the opposite trend. Rents have risen in 8 of the largest 10 cities in Virginia for which we have data. The state as a whole logged rent growth of 1.4% over the past year. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the state.

Looking throughout the state, Arlington is the most expensive of all Virginia's major cities, with a median two-bedroom rent of $1,980; of the 10 largest cities in Virginia that we have data for, Alexandria and Arlington, where two-bedrooms go for $1,780 and $1,980, are the two other major cities in the state besides Williamsburg to see rents fall year-over-year (-0.2% and -0.1%).

Richmond, Newport News, and Portsmouth have all experienced year-over-year growth above the state average (3.0%, 2.3%, and 2.2%, respectively).

Williamsburg rents more affordable than many large cities nationwide

As rents have fallen moderately in Williamsburg, many large cities nationwide have seen prices increase, in some cases substantially. Williamsburg is also more affordable than most large cities across the country.

Williamsburg's median two-bedroom rent of $1,180 is slightly above the national average of $1,160. Nationwide, rents have grown by 2.3% over the past year compared to the 0.7% decline in Williamsburg.

While rents in Williamsburg fell moderately over the past year, many cities nationwide saw increases, including Phoenix (+3.3%), Atlanta (+2.3%), and Seattle (+2.1%).

Renters will find more reasonable prices in Williamsburg than most large cities. For example, San Francisco has a median 2BR rent of $3,040, which is more than two-and-a-half times the price in Williamsburg.

For more information check out our
national report.
You can also access our full data for cities and counties across the U.S. at
this link.

City

Median 1BR price

Median 2BR price

M/M price change

Y/Y price change

Virginia Beach

$1,060

$1,280

-0.1%

1.9%

Norfolk

$790

$950

-0.7%

0.6%

Chesapeake

$980

$1,180

0.3%

1.7%

Newport News

$840

$1,010

0.9%

2.3%

Hampton

$860

$1,030

-0.5%

1.3%

Portsmouth

$770

$930

-1.7%

2.2%

Suffolk

$910

$1,090

-0.5%

1.2%

Williamsburg

$990

$1,180

-0.9%

-0.7%

Methodology - Recent Updates:

Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.

Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.

Methodology:

Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.

Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.

About Rent Reports:

Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.

We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.